Six Tips for Summer Car Rentals

June 18, 2010— -- Many of you will be renting cars on your summer vacations. A reader who was planning to asked:

"Is there anything different I should know about renting a car this summer?"

The short answer is that while nothing fundamental has changed, some of the old problems seem to be getting worse. Here are six recommendations to avoid or at least mitigate the problems you'll face:

Rent the Right Size Car

Over the years, I've seen too many travelers try to cut their costs a few bucks by renting cars too small for their families or travel groups on an extended trip. For any group of more than two adults and two small children, typical compact and even intermediate cars relegate rear-seat passengers to crowding that's even worse than economy seats on airplanes. The obvious defense is to make sure you get a car with adequate rear-seat room.

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Minimize Rate Inflation

If you haven't rented since last summer, you might be in for sticker shock. Rates are up sharply. Local authorities continue to view tourists who rent cars in their areas — and don't vote in them — as a happy hunting ground for fees, taxes, and charges. The net result is that the total costs of renting will be quite a bit higher than you might have expected — especially at airports.

The best defense is to rent through one of the opaque outlets — Hotwire or Priceline. As long as you get the model you want, where you want, many of you don't really care which company supplies the rental. Another defense is to rent off-airport. When you're shopping around, check the fine print to note all the fees specifically associated with an airport location. Figure the cost and hassle of going to an off-airport location — my figure would be about $25, but yours might be different. Then, if the airport fees are significantly higher, avoid the airport. In most areas, even if you rent a car off-airport, you can still return it to an airport location without extra fees.